NCJ Number
115854
Journal
Journal of Law Reform Volume: 21 Issue: 1 and 2 Dated: (Fall 1987, Winter 1988) Pages: 317-345
Date Published
1988
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Michigan needs a legislative reform designed to reinforce protections guaranteed by rape shield law when the defendant brings a civil action against the accuser.
Abstract
Michigan's 1974 rape shield law, the first in the Nation, encouraged women to report rapes by prohibiting the intrusive and often brutal cross-examination of a victim's past sexual conduct. Michigan was also in the lead when a defense attorney adopted the strategy of filing a civil suit against the defendant's accuser prior to the resolution of the pending rape charges. The civil suit effectively negated the rape shield protections and became a weapon for intimidation, because the rape victim was immediately subject to deposition, where no similar protections exist. Legislative reform is needed to reinforce the protections guaranteed by the rape shield provision. The proposed model statute maintains the rape shield protections for the duration of the criminal trial while preserving the defendant's right to bring a civil suit. It is not likely that a reinforcement of the rape shield protections, as provided in the model statute, will bring a flood of a false reports, since the act would not ultimately insulate a complainant from subsequent civil damages for a false rape report. 113 footnotes.